XXII
"Who cares if one more light goes out
In the sky of a million stars
It flickers, flickers."
- One More Light, Linkin Park.
~
SHASHI THE GHOST (I just mean third person)
Our heroes stood in a circle in the most dramatic fashion, around a very badly bruised Rachelle, who clutched the Shadow Orbs to herself like they were her children.
"We have to fight," Valerie said, her intense grey eyes alight and ablaze, full of concentration and determination.
"If we go down, like this," Simba began, eyeing the group nervously yet bearing a soft a grin on his face, "I'm glad I got the chance to fight beside you guys."
Everybody was moved by the comment, surprisingly including Zarren and Valerie. But nobody was able to come up with a suitable reply so they let their smiles and nods do the job.
Augustus analysed the crowd around, his hazel eyes gleaming with a golden glow because of the shield surrounding them, "I can give you guys a headstart but I will need a few seconds to recuperate, so guard me."
Kaito and Zarren share a momentary glance and nod at each other.
"We got you," they say together.
The heroes were now surrounded by thousands of soldiers, swarming around the golden shield, trying to find a hole in the powerful wall created by Gus. They spread far and wide and more could be seen coming towards them from the horizon.
"Are you ready?" Augustus asked as a bead of sweat trickled down the side of his face and onto the dry ground where it immediately evaporated due to the intense heat.
Augustine looks over at the golden winged boy and smirks slightly, "Ready as I'll ever be."
Augustus grins back before closing his eyes and clenching his jaw as he focused on his shield.
The golden colour turned into a bright silver and all the arrows and fireballs attacking the shield turned around and attacked their owners. The Reflective Soul shield.
There was complete chaos in the army as the Cinders began dodging their own fire and arrows while trying to dodge the arrows that the others were shooting towards the heroes.
Kaito and Zarren sprint right to Augustus's side and each put up a shield of their own, Zarren's shield deflecting the weapons while Kaito's shield deflecting the magic.
Augustus slumped down next to Rachelle and the brunette handed him two bottles of nectar which he downs in an instant.
Meanwhile Augustine had sprung into action, his hands spread out around him, smiling devilishly as rows upon rows of Cinders went up in violet flames which their fire resistant clothes couldn't really resist. Guess the Eternal flames had a pretty damn good use in this particular realm after all.
Avalkyra, a few feet away, had twin swords in both her hands, both alight with bright orange flames. She was swiping and slashing, stabbing and severing a dozen heads with every swipe of her deadly blades. Everyone backed away from her in fear as the redhead barrelled towards the Cinders, her eyes ablaze like the flames on her swords.
Then there was Minakshi on the opposite side, who thrust her hands into the sky and the sand rose up like a tidal wave and swallowed a whole bunch of soldiers, burying them deep into the hot sand, making it almost impossible to climb out because, well, it's sand. Sand is a pain.
Valerie had a glowing blue shield around her, protecting her from Minakshi's sand as she skewered soldier after soldier on her spear, until there was no room left on the shaft. She then took her giant skewer and threw it onto unsuspecting soldiers, burying them under the weight of their own fallen brothers. It was a very terrifying scene to witness.
Mikaello and Rey realised together that they were in a desert with hot winds surrounding them from every side. So of course they summoned a tornado. The thing was a beast, sucking in all the soldiers coming from the camp, without giving them the chance to reach the place of the fight.
The two Air Users fought back to back, Mikaello swinging a staff knocking out anyone who came in his path, while Rey kept using the hot winds to keep people from getting too close to Rachelle and Gus.
Simba turned from a sweet little bean to a freaking beast, thrusting, chopping, slicing at soldier the way he handled a freaking carrot. It was scary witnessing him in action like that, with his brown eyes darkened by rage and his lion's mane hair making him seem like an actual lion hunting down prey.
Suddenly a cry of pain was heard, from a voice which didn't belong to the Cinders.
Valerie knelt down, her torso bleeding profusely as a spear stuck out of it. One of the freaks found out a chink in her armor.
They were not even good at handling their weapons.
She put on a weak shield around her, but as her energy slowly began to deplete, she knew she wouldn't be able to hold any longer.
One of the soldiers broke into her shield and held his sword, most probably to claim her head, but then slumped to the ground next to her.
"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HER," Simba stood at her side, roaring at the Cinders around as he pulled out his spear from the attacking soldier's back.
Valerie watched in wonder as the soldier who had successfully managed to stab her, went up in flames till nothing but a pile of his ashes remained.
"Kai!" Simba shouted, "Shield her!"
Kaito immediately ran over from where he had been defending Augustus and Rachelle and created a shield around them while Simba protected her from physical attacks.
After a few, very slow and very agonizing moments, she managed to pull the javelin out and healed herself.
She went to touch Simba's arm to express her gratitude but the boy had already left to protect Minakshi who had gone under fire now.
Coral had now taken Kaito's place next to Augustus and kept deflecting the fire attacks coming their way as everyone tried to get to the orbs.
The sky had darkened more and more as the eclipse continued and she feared that it wouldn't be long before the eclipse happened.
"Gus! Duck!" Rachelle shouted out and Augustus ducked immediately to narrowly miss a fireball which would have otherwise charred half his face off.
He couldn't help but notice that among the thousands of soldiers heading their way, two of them looked...taller?
Coral pointed at them, "Those are the leaders of the Cinders. We can't let them get to the orbs."
Still that previous sentence felt like an impossible mission because as the darkness loomed over them, the Cinders' powers began growing.
Shadows... They got their powers from the dark.
The only way to stop that... was to erase the darkness.
The leaders were getting closer and closer to their friends when a third leader popped out of nowhere next to Augustine and knocked the pink haired boy to the side with a dark flame attack which she had never seen before.
And as the leader got closer to them, complete darkness fell.
The eclipse was at its peak.
It didn't help that the Cinders had perfect camouflage now, what with their black robes.
"Gus!" Coral shouted, "Take me up!"
"But Rachelle?"
"I've got her," we hear Zarren and Arbor say together.
Augustus lifted Coral into the air, wondering what the girl was about to do. Did she know any far range fire attacks that he hadn't been taught?
She closed her eyes and Augustus gasped in wonder as her whole body began glowing with a brilliant light.
And that was when the most horrible realization struck him.
Coral was performing one of the most dangerous acts of the Fae.
She glowed. Brighter than the Sun. Like the brightest stars out there.
The way they did before they exploded in a supernova.
Light flooded around them, so intense that some of the Cinders were blinded, maybe permanently.
"Coral you need to stop," Augustus said, his eyes closed to shield them from the blinding lights. If she didn't stop, she might just burn herself up like the stars in supernova.
She didn't seem to hear him.
"Coral. Coral! CORALLINE STOP! YOU'LL KILL YOURSELF!" Rachelle shouted from below. She watched in horror as the Cinder leader in front of her grabbed the orbs from her after knocking Zarren and Arbor out of his way.
"STOP! CORAL DON'T!" Simba cried out as he watched Coral's form turn brighter and brighter. If she didn't stop now, she would burn herself up internally and entirely. She would implode on the inside as well as explode on the outside.
All the heroes began to make their way through to Rachelle who was now accompanied by the Cinder Lord. They had to protect Rachelle as well.
Augustus watched helplessly as he tried to figure out what to do to stop a tragedy from happening. And then it struck him.
Augustus knew what to do.
He grabbed Coral's hand and began transferring his own energy into her. That way, he would burn out as his power would be channeled out and she would live! Perfect!
He felt an immense pain in his body as his energy majorly flowed into Coral, depriving the Cinders of the darkness they needed to perform their magic.
Coral knew she wanted to go out like that. Like a star.
But then Augustus grabbed her hand and she knew everything would go wrong. She just had to hold out until the eclipse ended.
"Augustus stop," she said, her voice no longer holding the softness and the subtlety. It was strong and bold.
"No," was all he said before he grit his teeth in pain.
She looked at the sky, and felt extreme sadness as she saw that there was still a while left before the eclipse ended.
She didn't have time. And neither did Augustus if he didn't stop.
So she did what she thought was right.
She kissed him on the forehead, "Protect them."
"Wha-?"
"I'm sorry."
And Augustus was blasted away from Coral by a streak of pure light but she remained floating in the air. The final stage of the spell had begun.
There was no going back.
Augustus landed on the burning sand and immediately a golden shield surrounded him and the rest of the members, pushing out the Cinder Lord who has the orbs in his hands, but was grumbling because of his inability to use them in the light emanating from Coral.
The girl smiled down at the group before closing her eyes. She had complete faith in them that they would be able to save their world.
She had to do this, this was the only way to help them survive. The Cinders wouldn't be able to attack in the slightest with no darkness.
The only way to eradicate darkness was to fill it with light.
And it was her time to shine.
"Everyone close your eyes," Rachelle said in a choked voice. She closed her own eyes as she felt fat drops of tears squeeze out of them, as she sat hopelessly on the ground. There was nothing that could stop this anymore, Coral was now an unstoppable force of Nature.
And then, there was the most brilliant flash of light in the sky, coming straight from Coral.
The light spread through the darkness of the realm, it's intensity strong enough to reduce half of the Cinders to ashes and the other half remained seriously injured.
The dark sky was fully alight with the colours of the spectrum, all blending into white in the center, where Coralline was.
It was blinding for Rachelle, even with her eyes closed. The light as well as the tears burned her eyelids. When she opened them, all she could see was Coral's falling form from the sky.
She weakly nudged Rey, and the girl willed the winds to float the girl's body down from the sky, all the while trying to hold back her sobs.
But Coral never made it to the ground. Only her flaming orange birthstone did.
Up in the air itself her body disintegrated into stardust, and floated away to join the stars which has brought her into existence in the first place.
"No, no, no this isn't happening," Avalkyra muttered looking at the golden dust.
"No! Why didn't you let me help!" Augustus said through a trembling voice, as he clutched his torso where Coral's fire had burned him.
The light in the stone began to fade and form into a glowing orange outline of Coralline.
A small breeze fluttered Valerie's open hair as she paid attention for Coral's final message.
The flaming form of Coral appeared in front of them, "Don't mourn death. Celebrate life. And remember, I'll always be with you."
And that form itself dissipated into more stardust.
Coralline Jenessa Johnson was gone after her supernova like explosion, a dying star's final hurrah before it consumes itself into becoming a black hole.
One of the deadliest attacks of a Fire User as well the purest form of sacrifice.
Valerie stood up and chanted the farewell in the ancient language of the Fae. In the strongest and loudest voice she could manage. So much that the Cinders who were still trying to attack them fell silent to listen to her.
Ending with the line, "May the light you left shine upon us eternally and guide us through the darkness ahead."
Such fitting lines for this situation were contained in the farewell chant which has been used for ages to celebrate life and death.
Augustus collapsed onto the ground and stared at it. Rachelle nudged him with a glass of nectar.
"Drink up, we need the shield," Arbor said through her tears.
Augustus just stared at the nectar.
Zarren patted his back, "We can't let the sacrifice go to waste. Protect us."
Mikaello looked up to stop his tears from rolling down. And he saw that the moon no longer covered the sun.
Coral's light had compensated well for the darkness as now the light of the supernova-like explosion was replaced by that of the Sun, as if there was no eclipse in the first place.
A wave of frustration rolled through the ranks of the Cinders.
The only problem now, was that the Cinder Lord had the orbs. The orbs which had managed to absorb a great deal of the shadow of the eclipse before the light.
And he could channel the power to a great extent. He began chanting, an incantation so strong that it would suck the life out of the heroes like sucking juice out of a straw.
Fortunately, Coralline's magic had attracted some very needed attention.
Because just as the Lord was about to cast some very dark magic onto some very unsuspecting faeries, he was pinned down to the ground and the orbs were snatched away from him.
By whom you ask? The one and only, fully clad in red, Pyros.
He let out a deep laugh as he pinned the Cinder Lord, Sol, down onto the sand. Finally, the thief he had wanted to punish for so long, was finally in his grasp.
But Pyros was not even able to get a single hit because a very deadly looking Augustine lit Sol's entire body up with a bright red flame and Avalkyra, with the red reflected in her already flaming eyes, separated his head from his body with one slash of her katana. Mikaello summoned a wind so strong that the ashes spread to different parts of the entire realm.
There was a new energy within the group, anger, the thirst for revenge and the determination to end these people because of which their companion scarified herself.
Lia growled as she zipped straight to one of the other Lords and choked the life out of him with her bare hands. And then Rey was there in an instant, slashing her butterfly knife and cleanly separating the head from the body. And then Simba lit the entire body up and Rey and Lia spread the ashes so that the Cinders won't be able to resurrect him.
The third Lord made a very wise choice and began to retreat, but then as he was riding swiftly on the wind, he was kicked in the back by Augsutus, who then placed his hand on the Lord's chest, while sucking the life out of him just like Sol had planned to do with the Fae.
The Lord was begging and pleading Gus to stop but faerie could only see red and hear nothing above the blood pounding behind his ears.
He slowly absorbed the Lord's essence out of the body, and body itself decomposed into sand, the substance which brought the Lord into existence.
Augustus sighed in frustration. He couldn't bring Coral back by using the sand. He needed stardust. And it was officially too late.
It was over. But at what cost?
He looked at the glowing wispy orb on his palm, the Lord's soul. And without hesitation, he lit it up with a golden flame, destroying any sign of the horrid creature.
He then slumped down onto the sand, and couldn't hold it anymore as he broke down into sobs. Angry, frustrated, hopeless sobs.
He could have saved her. He didn't act fast or smart enough.
He could have saved her.
You couldn't have saved her, he heard a soft voice in his head. Rachelle?
His eyes travelled to where she was lying, clutching her burnt leg.
Rachelle.
He rushed towards her and spread his hands out towards the ugly flesh wound.
He closed his eyes and almost immediately the muscles and tissue began mending themselves up, attaching themselves.
It was the best feeling Rachelle had ever felt, it felt like she was waking up after a long nap to sunshine streaming into the bedroom window.
But the looming sadness made it impossible for her to enjoy the magic of Soul healing.
Around them, the other Fae looked defeated as they watched the Blazes arrest the leftover Cinder soldiers and we're probably gonna torture these people to find the location of the camp.
It was all over. They had won.
Minakshi was already crying loudly while clutching Coral's birthstone in her hands. The chirpy, bubbly girl, full of hope and happiness was now crying her eyes out. It was a painful sight to witness.
Avalkyra walked up to her and put the girl's head on her grimy shoulder.
On the other side, Lia leaned on Mikaello for support as she watched Minakshi cry, with immeasurable sadness in those large yellow eyes. Mikaello wrapped a comforting arm around Lia's shoulder as silent tears fell down his own orange eyes while staring out at Rey who was looking back at him from the distance, both of them sharing unspoken words of comfort by using their eyes. At least, Mikaello thought they did.
Kaito slumped down onto the ground and Zarren joined him a second later, both of them staring out at the carnage ahead of them, shoulders touching.
Simba was collapsed onto the ground as well, breathing heavily while holding the gash on his arm as it bled freely. He had forgotten about the wound while everything...happened. A pale hand covered with black crusted Cinder blood extended in front of him and he looked up to see Valerie looking at him with a solemn expression. He shook off the tiredness and accepted the hand and got up, dusting his tunic.
Pyros walked up to where Augustus and Rachelle sat, "We are deeply sorry for your loss."
Rachelle nodded at him and then looked at Augustus who seemed to ignore the Blaze.
"We want to offer shelter at our camp, if you are ready to accept," Pyros said in his loud voice, which attracted everyone's attention.
Rachelle nodded again, pushing the tears back, "Thank you."
"No, thank you. You have done a great service to my people."
"Yeah well then getting our fucking friend back!" Augustus said loudly.
"Gus," Rachelle sighed and placed an arm on his bloodied shoulder, "Come on we need to go."
She tried to get up, and winced a little as a sharp pain went up her knee. She had bruised it when she had jumped from the carpet.
She still managed to stand up, but then her effort went to waste when Augustus got up and picked her up in his arms, princess style.
"I can stand-"
"No you fucking can't Rachelle."
No Princess?
Well that was that.
A couple of carpets appeared at Pyros' aid with a Blaze steering each one. Augustus deposited Rachelle onto one of the carpets and climbed onto it himself.
It was time to head back.
~
Hey hey! This chapter took the most effort out of me I hope y'all liked it. It was such a journey writing this one, but I REALLY like this one. Was that too sadistic?
I'm not gonna be writing for a while after this so I hope this one was satisfying enough.
litasucks I'm so sorry babe for killing the character, but this was the best storyline I could think of. I did give her the most spectacular death I could think of.
Anyways, I would love any sort of feedback for improvement. I will not post for a while after this, but I promise you'll get a little chill content after this heavy one.
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